Norton 32, Bellingham 14: Missed chances doom Blackhawks

Friday

Nov 29, 2013 at 12:01 AMNov 29, 2013 at 11:36 PM

If you're going to upset a team on the road, you have to take advantage of opportunities. Unfortunately, the Bellingham High football team was not able to do so, and the result was a 32-14 loss to Norton in Tri-Valley League Small contest on Thanksgiving morning at Adams Field.

Kevin LaBounty/Daily News correspondent

If you're going to upset a team on the road, you have to take advantage of opportunities.

Unfortunately, the Bellingham High football team was not able to do so, and the result was a 32-14 loss to Norton in Tri-Valley League Small contest on Thanksgiving morning at Adams Field.

The loss ended the Blackhawks’ season at 1-10.

Senior running back Adam Braza had 18 carries for 84 yards and a two-point conversion run. He was named the Bellingham's Offensive MVP for the game. Senior quarterback Austin Nunn had 68 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. Sophomore Alec Godfrey contributed 96 yards and a score on nine rushes, including a seven-carry, 94-yard effort in the second half.

"Our defense played well and our line played well," said Bellingham coach Dan MacLean. "The defense stepped up in the first half and played great."

Bellingham drove inside the Norton 40 yard line on four occasions in the first half but was not able to convert any of those opportunities into points.

"We had opportunities in the first half, but couldn’t finish them," said MacLean. "We got close or into the red zone twice, but couldn’t finish. We couldn’t get it going offensively. We couldn’t get into a groove. We had our chances. We just couldn’t put complete drives together."

The Blackhawks’ first possession saw the visitors drive down to the Lancer 22-yard line. However, the drive was stopped when Nunn was sacked on a fourth-and-4 play with 7:41 remaining in the opening quarter.

Norton then took a 7-0 lead when Matt Hines scored on a 4-yard run and Mike Ready added the extra point with 4:19 left in the opening quarter.

The Blackhawks’ second possession saw them move the ball to the Norton 38, but a fourth-and-10 pass by Dunn was intercepted by Ready and returned to the Lancer 37 with nine minutes left in the first half.

Norton turned the interception into points as Brad Wry culminated a five-play, 63-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown run. Ready’s extra point made it 14-0 with 7:21 remaining in the half.

Bellingham’s third attempt to score was lilely the most frustrating as the Blackhawks drove to the Norton 3 yard line. Nunn attempted to leap over the pile for a touchdown, but the ball was knocked out of his hands with Lancer linebacker Mike Travers recovering at the 3.

The Blackhawks made one final attempt to score before the break, but a third-and-3 pass by Nunn from the Norton 26 yard line was incomplete as time ran out in the half.

Bellingham did score twice in the fourth quarter to close the gap to 26-14. Nunn scored on a 6-yard run to cut Norton's lead to 26-6 39 seconds into the final period. Later in the period, the Blackhawks got a little closer when Godfrey sprinted down the left sideline for a 39-yard touchdown. The two-point conversion closed the gap to 26-14 with 5:05 remaining in the game.

"We came to play today against a good team," said MacLean. "We battled them. These kids played with heart all year. I’m proud of all of them. We will miss this group of seniors."